LONDON (Reuters) - After two decades in make-up fronting one of Asia's biggest heavy metal bands, Freddy Lim is finding the transition to the more formal surroundings of the Taiwanese parliament harder than expected.

Six months after being elected legislator in Taipei's 5th District, the long-haired political activist and lead singer of Chthonic is still trying to get his new colleagues to overlook his "weird" appearance in parliament.

"It's not just that I was shocked, I think the entire system and the office and the people in the parliament were shocked," Lim told Reuters of his political arrival before the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards in London this week.